Super Bowl Rewind: Chicago Bears fall to Indianapolis Colts
The last time that the Chicago Bears were in the Super Bowl was Super XLI when they faced the Indianapolis Colts.
The Chicago Bears have not made the Super Bowl since the 2006 NFL regular season.
During the 2006 season, the Chicago Bears had a strong defense led by linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. The Bears’ defense is what carried the team to the Super Bowl during the 2006 season as the offense was inconsistent behind quarterback Rex Grossman.
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Super Bowl XLI got off to an encouraging start for the Bears against the Indianapolis Colts. Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl 92 yards for a touchdown. Then, the Bears’ defense came away with an interception of Peyton Manning during the Colts’ opening drive.
In fact, after the first quarter of the game, the Bears had a 14-6 lead over the Colts. Unfortunately for the Bears, they were outscored 23-3 after the first quarter and lost Super Bowl XLI 29-17.
What went wrong with the Bears?
The biggest issue for the Bears is the team’s offensive coordinator Ron Turner got scared. After running back Cedric Benson went down with a knee injury (an injury he could have played through), Turner opted to depend on the passing game instead of controlling the game with veteran running back Thomas Jones. Jones rushed for 112 yards on 15 carries.
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The Bears’ recipe for success during the 2016 season was control the tempo of the game with their running game and win the game with their defense. Because Turner did not opt to control the game with the running game, that left the Bears’ defense vulnerable against Manning. Had the Bears opted to control the tempo of the game with their running game, chances are Super Bowl XLI would have had a different outcome.